Voltage bus structures may be used in vehicles, such as electrically propelled vehicles or hybrid vehicles that are propelled by internal combustion engines, electric motors, or both. In certain applications, the voltage bus structure may be configured to operate with a peak or maximum operating voltage, a peak or maximum operating current, or both. In the context of certain vehicles, high voltage operating conditions may entail a peak or maximum operating voltage of up to approximately 1200 volts direct current (VDC), for example. In some prior art bus structures and connectors, the switching performance and efficiency of a power semiconductor switch may be degraded if the semiconductor switch is fed from a direct current bus with inflated inductance or capacitors are required to compensate for the inductance.
In certain prior art, one or more conductive connectors (e.g., conductive rectangular bus straps or laminated bus straps of opposite polarity) between different voltage bus structures may be separated to prevent short circuits and arcing, which tends to lead to excessive inductance. For example, the separation of the positive and negative terminals (or traceable electrical paths within the system) can create one or more inductance loops that allow the energy of the system to be dissipated within re-circulation loops or parasitic inductance loops. For certain vehicle or electronics applications International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards for electrical power connectors may recommend or require approximately three millimeters of separation for a 700 volt system to allow for clearances and thermal tolerances. Because of this separation requirement, the inductance of the system is increased. The inductance losses not only reduce the system efficiency, but can require the conductive connections (e.g., conductors) to be oversized to handle the resultant increased electrical current to compensate for inductive loss. The increased electrical current can heat up one or more connectors or the high voltage buses, which tends to increase material costs for conductors and other materials that can withstand higher temperatures than the system would otherwise require if the parasitic or inductance loss was low. Accordingly, there is need for the connector for voltage bus structures to handle efficiently high voltage operating conditions.